Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-01-27

a Description Of the Duties Of His Pc
sition-Paid for Being Scoldsd.

a Description Of the Duties Of His Po-
sition-Paid for Being seoldsd.
Professional ~scapegoat'' does not APP
pear among the thousands Of occupations
which designate the manner Of employ
ment Of the inhabitants Of this city a.
classified in the Philadelphia directory.
More than one man whose nam appears
there graced by the simple but compre-
hensive word clerk" is, il the truth
We're known. fully entitled TO classitica-
ton as a professional scapegoat. There
is more than one who is paid a substan-
tial salary by large houses for no other
occupation than taking upon his should.
ers the blame for all the misdeeds Of the
establishment and suffering the supposed
loss of his situation at the rate OF ten or
q dozen times a day, or as much oftener
as occasion may require. Being dis
charged half a dozen timesa day without
once losing his position, and at the same
time being well paid for the peculiar per-
Torrance, is. indeed, a novel idea. This
is how it is done:
A lady makes a purchase Of several ar.
ticles, all of which are to be sent 10 her
address, as given, before a certain hour,
without fail. The following day the U.S..
toner returns and in her own sweet way
proceeds to tear out" the floor manager
or proprietor, as it may be. because the
goods failed to arrive at the promised
hour. The story is patiently heard, and
the word is passed along for Smith.
Smith makes his appearance with a
tenance professionally penitent and sub
missfve.
''Smith," the manager begins, ''you
were instructed to send this lady's goods
to the address given YOU before 4 oclocs?'
.'Yes, sir" is Smiths plalntivc reply,
.'but'-
Never mind an explanation, | I'M
derstand. Your neglect caused the de.
lay and has risked the loss of one Of u
best customers. We can no put up with
your carlessness any longer. YOU may
60 Il the Office and get your pay Smith
steals away with a readymade crcstfallen
look upon his face.
Madam, ! regret the occurrence Of
such an unnecessary blundcr, hut assure
you it will not happen again; surely not
from that man." and madam takes her
departure fully satisfied that she has had
her revenge,
Another irate customer appears on the
scene. This time the trouble is with a
suit of furniture which had been pur-
chased a week before as in perfect order,
but has already begun to show signs Of
approaching dissolution. The aggrieved
purchaser opens on the manager, who at
once sends for the .'man who takes the
blame" and opens the usual programme.
''IIow is this, sirg What do you mean
by sending out goods in such a condition.
You have been repeatedly told not to per-
nit any goods TO have your department
unless in perfect order. This Is not the
first time this has happened; but it will
be the last. Go to the office and get your
pay; we have no further use for your
services.
MADAM. l am very sorry that you
should lave been so deceived by m OF
our statesmen. We al not very well
take back the furniture after it has been
used, but we will send a man to your
house To put il in proper shape" and the
lady goes her way satisfied that she has
received justice.
1.-The man who takes the blame" d
next d~ic,arged for o~vercharging in max.
ing a sale Of silk dress goods. He then
suffers a TRADE Of abuse, and is also TO &C
because he las sold a set OF fine china
without calling the attention of the pur
chaser to aeveral little defects. And so Il
goes from morning to night, day after
day. week in and week out. The poo
fellow is made 10 suffer for all the sins OF
the entire establishment, from the mana
ger down to the errand boy.
docs it pay?" echoed a prominent
business man the other day in response t.
an inquiry ON the subject. "Well,
should say it did. Why, we have a MAI
who takes the blame for our establish
ment who Is worth thousands OF dollar
to US every year. We can sell a goo
many slightly damaged or imperfec
goods which we could not otherwise dis
pose Of except at a great sacrifice. Ther
we ave a great many good customer
who become displeased about small mat
tiers which are not done just as they like
II is a strange but true fact that man,
people are satisfied to put up with con
siderable inconvenience il they can onl.
be reyensed by seeing some one dis
charged. Sometimes when we bring on
our man who takes the blame the Gus
toner ventures 10 suggestthat he is no
the one who waited ON her, but we insis
that he is, and the man adds his own as
sertion, and in nine cases out Of ten III
customer is convinced. Very few peopl
, take enough notice Of a salesman 3
identify him, unless they meet him FIRE
quently. Ihave known some establish
, ments that have employed two OF NOR
men to take blame in order to f%acilitst
/ matters. The funniest part OF the thin
is that II scapegoat man grows fat o
: being 'cussed.' He has increased fror
: $50 to 300 pounds in fifteen months, an
smiles 80 much that we will have I
change him and get some dyspeptjc look